Trump Administration Resumes Foreign Student’s Visas Processing With Stricter Social Media Checks

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump’s administration announced that it would resume the process for international students to apply for student visas. However, there will be tightening checks on social media to identify anyone who might have negative feelings toward the United States.

According to an internal message from the State Department shared with Reuters, officials will be monitoring social media posts that express hostility towards the US government, its culture, institutions or founding principles.

The State Department also shared that it has lifted a previous suspension of international student visa applications that was put in place last month. However, any new international students apply college admission will need to make their social media accounts public for review.

Those who don’t want to show up may face rejection; this could indicate they are trying to hide something.

This policy shift comes after the Trump administration had briefly paused scheduling new visa interviews while planning to increase strict checks of applicants’ online activities.

International Students are waiting uneasy for US consulates to reopen for student visas. Already, most international students are facing many challenges. After hearing the announcement on Wednesday, they felt both confused and devastated.

In reopening the visa application process, the State Department instructed consulates to give priority to students aiming to enroll in colleges where international students make up less than 15% of the student population, according to a US official who spoke anonymously because this information has not been publicly released.

On Wednesday afternoon, a Ph.D. student from Toronto managed to secure a visa interview appointment for next week. The student, who is from China, hopes to travel to the US for a research internship beginning in late July. “I’m really relieved,” said the student, who requested to be identified only by his last name, Chen, because he worries about facing the target. “I’ve been refreshing the website a couple of times every day.”

Students from China, India, Mexico and the Philippines have been sharing their experiences on social media about how they are closely monitoring visa booking websites and paying attention to updates from the US State Department to get a sense of when they might be able to schedule their interviews.